AT&T Throttling Down Top 5% Of Users To 2G Speeds

As you may know, AT&T started throttling data speeds for the top 5% of its smartphone users on unlimited data plans from October 1st.

It looks like AT&T maybe throttling the speeds down to 2G speeds for the top 5% of data users, according to TiPb.

TiPb reports that one of their users who happened to fall in the top 5% of the smartphone users got a message informing him that his data speeds for the rest of the bill cycle will be reduced.

He noticed that after getting the message, he doesn't seem to be getting speeds any faster than an 150kps, while his friends and co-workers who are using the same tower are getting full speed.

I called AT&T because I thought it was an issue with them and I did a trouble shooting session on the phone. After finishing they asked if I received any text from them and I replied “yes” and told them which one and that’s when AT&T told me “problem solved”. I asked how do I go from 14mbps to straight EDGE, bypassing 7.2mbps, and they couldn’t reply

It's a pity that while Apple is introducing features like iCloud and OTA iOS software updates, which will translate into more data usage and carriers like AT&T are putting restrictions that will deprive users of a better user experience due to reduced speeds (throttling unlimited data plan customers) or come at a much higher cost (tiered data plans).

Have you received a warning message from AT&T? Has the speed dropped to 2G speeds for you as well after getting the message? Let us know in the comments.